Back in 2012, NORAD (the North American Aerospace Defense Command) decided to break up the partnership with Google. Since 2007, NORAD had partenered with Google to locate Santa on the Google Maps. Since then, Microsoft decided to use the occasion to draw even more eyeballs to them. Therefore, if you’ll be using NORAD to track down Santa this year, you’ll have to rely on the Bing Maps in your quest.
Track Santa with NORAD in 2014
Unlike previous years, this year, NORAD is releasing multiple mobile apps for its Santa tracking service, even for Windows 8. Google isn’t to be found anywhere on the official page and it seems that even for the 3D experience of pursuing Santa, users will have to use Cesium, a company that, honestly, I didn’t hear about until now. But for those who’re looking for something from Google, you should know that you can follow NORAD’s YouTube Channel.
NORAD Santa Tracker Apps
If you didn’t know, we’ll tell you – NORAD’s Track Santa program has been around since 1955(the above image is from around that time)! Yes, there wasn’t Internet back then. But now you can easily connect to their Facebook page, for example (which has more than 1 million likes, by the way), follow updates from their Twitter account and even on Google Plus. For those that want to play a few mini-games, you can do so on the Activities page of NORAD Tracks Santa website. But one big question remains – is Santa real? Here’s what NORAD official say: So, to be extra-prepared, you need to download the following apps to your devices:
NORAD Tracks Santa for iOS NORAD Tracks Santa for Android NORAD Tracks Santa for WindowsPhone NORAD Tracks Santa for Windows 8
Other ways/apps to track Santa
If, for some reason, the above official apps from NORAD aren’t enough for you, maybe you want to take a look at other apps that we’ve gathered for you. If you personally know some apps, we’re be more than happy to include them here.
Santa GPS for iOS Santa Tracker for iOS Star Walk for iOS optimized for Santa Tracking Santa Tracker 2k for Android SantaTrack for Windows 8
Google tracks Santa in 2014
I was actually going to say that Google needs to do something about NORAD’s switch to Bing Maps when the announcement came through. Google is tracking Santa in 2014 even without NORAD’s help! To do this, Google has created a special team with engineers that will be sure to track Santa for you. You will be able to see Santa’s path across the world on December 24 – during Christmas’ eve. There’s also a very neat new feature – you can ask Santa to call a friend or member of your family (didn’t work for us at the moment). The new updated android app has a redesigned tracker, some added games, and updates for Chromecast. Also included is Android Wear integration. Here are some tools to help you keep track of Santa with Google:
Google Santa Tracker Android app Google Santa Tracker Chrome extension Google Santa Tracker on Facebook Google Santa Tracker on Twitter Google Santa Tracker on Google+ Google Santa Tracker official page
